Hemmer attachment for sewing machines



April 28, 1942. J ENOSI 2,281,275

HEMMER ATTACHMENT .FQR.SEWING MACHINES File d March 5, 1940 Wmwss Patented Apr. 28, 1942 I-lEliL-VEER ATTACHMENT FUR SEWING MACHINES John P. Enos, Elizabeth, N. J., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company,

Elizabeth,

Claims.

This invention relates to hemming attachments for sewing machines and has for its primary object the provision of means designed to facilitate the hemming of fabric having thickened portions such as cross-seams and the like.

In prior devices of this character difficulty has been experienced in hemming fabrics having cross-seams. This difiiculty has been caused by the fact that as the cross-seam enters the mouth,

or receiving end, of the hemmer-scroll the latter becomes choked in some instances, resulting in a distortion of the fabric and the formation of an improper hem immediately following the crossseam. In other instances the cross-seam passing through the hemmer had a tendency to shift the marginal portion of the fabric directly following the cross-seam laterally out of the hemmerscroll. The choking of the hemmer and the shifting laterally of the work incident to the crossseams in effect unfolded the fabric following the cross-seam and the marginal edge of the fabric instead of being hemmed was only edge-folded.

According to the present invention, a hemmer is provided having a laterally yieldable section adjacent its delivery end thereby to eliminate choking, and means directly in front of the receiving end which functions to initially prepare or fold the fabric for entrance to the hemmer and to act as a gauge for determining the proper amount of fabric required to be crowded into the H hemmer to produce a perfect hem in a fabric, despite the presence of cross-seams.

For a clear understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a top plan view of a presserfoot hemmer embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation of the hemmer shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the hemmer.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, with the yieldable section removed to one side to illustrate the way in which the delivery end of the hemmer-scroll has been cut away.

Fig. 5 represents a transverse vertical section taken substantially along the line 5-5, Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 represents a transverse vertical section taken substantially along the line 5ti, Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a view of a fragment of fabric hemmed on. a sewing machine fitted with a prior hemmer.

Fig. 8 is a View of a fragment of fabric hemmed on a sewing machine fitted with a hemmer embodying the present invention.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the yieldable section and the spring supporting the same.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the present invention is embodied in a presser-foot hemmer comprising a shank l terminating at its lower end in a foot-portion or plate 2 formed with the usual needle-aperture 3 through which is adapted to reciprocate the threaded needle 4. The foot-portion 2 is bifurcated at its toe to provide rightand left-hand tines or extended toeportions 5 and '5, respectively. soldered or otherwise secured. to the left-hand tine 6 is a hemmer-scroll l which is preferably extended at its lower edge to provide a fabric-supporting apron 8 adapted to overlie the usual cloth-plate (not shown) of the sewing machine. The hemmerscroll l which is of conventional design has a spiraled Work-turning leading edge 1 which functions to hem-fold the marginal edges of fabric sections traversed thereby.

Formed integral with the forward portion of the apron '8 and in alinement with the hemmerscroll l is an edge-folding gauge 9 suitably shaped to define a C-shaped fabric-passageway l0 having a closed end providing a work-directing edge it which is disposed a substantial distance laterally to one side of and beyond the spiraled workturning leading edge 1' of the hemmer-scroll, see Fig. 3. During normal sewing only a suflicient amount of fabric is introduced into the fabricpassageway ill of the edge-folding gauge as will enable a complete hem to be formed by the hemmer-scroll i. In other words, during normal sewing the fabric-passageway I0 is only partially filled with the marginal portion of the fabric. At the approach of a cross-seam in the fabric, however, the fabric is manually shifted laterally by the operator so that the marginal portion now completely fills the fabric-passageway ill and engages the work-directing edge Iii. When so filled there is a sufficient quantity of fabric crowded into the hemmer-scroll l to offset the unfolding action of the fabric caused by the abnormal thickness of the cross-seam.

To avoid choking of the hemmer-scroll 1, or the application of excessive resistance to the passage of the fabric through the attachment, the hemmer-scroll l at its delivery end has been cut away, as at H, and substituted therefor is a U-shaped section 12 supported preferably by a spring-wire l3 coiled about a fastening screw l4 and anchored at its bent free end 15 in an aperture It drilled in the right-hand tine 5. To provide a smooth uninterrupted fabric-turning wall in the hemmer-scroll l, the U-shaped section l2 has attached within itself a plate-member I! which completely fills the opening I I produced by the removal of a portion of the delivery end of the hemmer-scroll. It will be understood that the section I 2 will yield laterally in the event that a cross-seam or other abnormal thickness of fabric passes through the attachment. In order to steady the edge-folding gauge 9 and the hemmer-scroll I, the right-hand tine 5 of the presser-foot toe is formed with a lateral extension I8 flared at its end to embrace the gauge and the hemmer-scroll. It is desirable that the delivery end of the hemmer-scroll be spaced as close to the needleaperture 3 as is practicable, so that the fabric will be effectively controlled until stitched. This results in a compactly folded hem.

The defect corrected by the present invention can be readily understood by reference to Figs. 7 and 3. In Fig. 7, the fabric F has a cross-seam S therein. It will be observed that the marginal edge of the fabric is neatly hemmed above the cross-seam S, but that upon encountering the cross-seam the marginal edge of the fabric has been distorted to the extent that below the cross-seam the marginal edge is only edge-folded and not hemmed. In Fig. 8, this defect has been corrected, and to obtain this result the following method was practiced: The fabric was introduced into the attachment only enough to partially fill the fabric-passageway IU of the hemmer, but sufficient to form a complete hem.

At the approach of a cross-seam, the fabric F was shifted laterally to completely fill the fabricpassageway H], the additional fabric offsetting the unfolding action caused by the cross-seam S. As the cross-seam S advanced toward the delivery end of the attachment, the U-shaped section I2 yielded laterally without distorting the hem-fold. By following this method a very satisfactory hem can be obtained.

While I have shown and described in detail one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible of modification, and that I am entitled to all the equivalents which come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

l. A hemming attachment for sewing machines comprising, a presser-foot having a foot-portion bifurcated longitudinally to provide rightand left-hand tines, a hemmer-scroll secured to said left-hand tine along the inner edge thereof, a gauge disposed in front of said hemmer-scroll for determining the amount of fabric to be introduced into said scroll, said gauge normally ineffective but adapted for use during the traversing of abnormal thicknesses in the fabric to deliver to said hemmer-scroll a sufficient quantity of fabric to offset the unfolding action of the fabric caused by the abnormal thicknesses thereof passing through the attachment, and an extension on said right-hand tine secured to said hemmer-scroll to steady the same.

2. A hemming attachment for sewing machines comprising, a presser-foot having a foot-plate formed with an extended toe-portion, a hemmerscroll secured to said extended toe-portion and formed with a cutout adjacent its delivery end, a gauge disposed in front of said hemmer-scroll for determining the amount of fabric to be introduced into said scroll, said gauge normally ineffective but adapted for use during the traversing of abnormal thicknesses in the fabric to deliver to said hemmer-scroll a suflicient quantity of fabric to offset the unfolding action of the fabric caused by the abnormal thicknesses thereof passing through the attachment, and a section normally closing the cut-out in said hernmer-scrol1 but adapted to yield in response to inequalities ln the thickness of the fabric being hemmed.

3. A hemming attachment for sewing machines comprising in combination, a presser-foot having a foot-plate bifurcated longitudinally to provide right and left-hand tines, a hemmer-scroll secured to said left-hand tine and formed with a cut-out adjacent its delivery end, a work-supporting apron integral with said hemmer-scroll and terminating forwardly thereof in a gauge adapted for determining the amount of fabric to be introduced into said hemmer-scroll to offset the unfolding action of the fabric caused by abnormal thicknesses thereof passing through the attachment, and a yieldable section carried upon a spring anchored in the right-hand tine for normally closing the cut-out in said hemmerscroll.

4. A hemming attachment for sewing machines comprising, a hammer-scroll having a spiraled work-turning leading edge, means for supporting said hemmer-scroll, and a gauge located adjacent to and in advance of the receiving end of said hemmer-soroll and having a c-shaped fabricpassageway the capacity of which exceeds that required for normal conditions of work-handling but which is adequate when completely filled to deliver to said hemmer-scroll a sufiicient quantity of fabric to offset the unfolding action of the fabric caused by abnormal thicknesses thereof passing through the hemmer-scroll, said gauge having a work-directing edge disposed a substanti al distance laterally to one side of and beyond the spiraled work-turning leading edge of said hemmer-scroll against which work-directing edge the fabric is manually shifted when traversing abnormal thicknesses of fabric.

JOHN P. ENOS. 

